The plan was to leave for Paris on Thursday 5 November, and return on Sunday the 8th. However, the day before I and my father were planning to leave, we were informed at the last moment that Belgian railroad personnel decided out of the blue to go on strike. The Thalys which was supposed to take us to Paris from Rotterdam follows a route through Belgium, so it didn’t depart. Leaving on 6 November wasn’t a good idea because our stay would be too short, so we decided to postpone our travel to Paris to a date which is still unknown.
It could be expected that this would confirm the stereotypes of the Belgians among Dutch like me as is attributed to in the many Belgian-related Dutch jokes, and that I would be mad at the Belgian sabotage of my plans, but that is not the case. For me, it was ‘geluk bij een ongeluk’ or ‘luck in an accident’ if literally translated. I had to write a paper for a course on the Seleucid Empire, which I couldn’t finish if I left for Paris. Also, my throat hurt, and my father wasn’t in his best shape either. Another factor was the rainy weather. In short, the abandonment of our vacation plans didn’t displease us much, and we’re planning to go later.